


The Tale of Lytse

by WiseDragonGirl (Verhalengrot)



Series: Pokémon adventures in the Bansing family [7]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Being Lost, Cold Weather, Dark Thoughts, Depression, Depressive Thoughts, Despair, Drowning, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hope vs. Despair, Loneliness, Losing Family, Near Death Experiences, POV First Person, References to Depression, Solitude, Suicidal Thoughts, Travel, hardship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-05 16:17:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14048091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verhalengrot/pseuds/WiseDragonGirl
Summary: Michael has a Cyndaquil which he calls Lytse. In this story Lytse will tell his tale of how he ended up with Michael.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> The Pokémon belong to the creator(s) of Pokémon, the original trainers belong to me. Rhando Island, the home of my original trainers and part of the Rorie-islands, is an original location and belongs to me.

I wasn’t always known as Lytse, that is the name my trainer gave me. My trainer, my friend, my partner. My saviour. I was alone when I met him. Alone and cold and wet. I had travelled a long time. A long, long time. And I was tired. So very tired. And he found me on that rainy day and he brought me to his home. He warmed me up and fed me. And I finally had found a home.

But that is the ending of my story. It began when I was just a small Cyndaquil, living peacefully with my tribe. I don’t recall much of it, just that I played with other Cyndaquil and the Charmander from a neighbouring tribe. I recall we lived in caves and it was pleasantly warm. It was a warmth I often longed back for, a warmth I found again when my trainer brought me to his home.

One day we had to leave. The volcano we lived close to  erupted. Lava came down the mountain in small rivers. I recall the smell of melting rock. It was terrifying. Even though we are fire-types, lava was too hot for us as well. So we had to leave. Because this was just a small eruption, our mother said. The bigger one would follow and that could kill us.

So we left. And that is where my tale begins.


	2. The journey

I remember the trembling of the earth beneath my paws as we fled, the ominous growling coming from deep within the earth. It was scary. We walked down the mountain, leaving behind the cave we had called our home for so long. The air was filled with smoke and ash, burning pieces of rock cam crushing down. It was dangerous, but the older Pokémon, the evolved Pokémon took care of the young and small ones.

There was only one Charizard with us, but she had hurt her wing. Otherwise she would have flown us into safety. Her partner wasn't here, the Charmander tribe didn't know exactly when he would return, but we all knew he would return to noting but rubble.

There was also one Typhlosion, my mother. Our father had died a year before, when the Staraptor attacked the Charmandar colony, but that is a story for another time.

 We stayed together as we hurried down the mountain, the real eruption was yet to come and we had to get as much distance between ourselves and the mountain. We walked close to a river of lava, it had risen inside the mountain and some of it escaped through crevices. It was warm and it gave an orange glow to the surrounding, I couldn't help but think being this close to the lava would be too hot for other types, we were lucky to be fire types and have some natural resistance to the heat. I had heard mother speak about fire-Pokémon who can live in the lava, who's body exists of hot molten rock. It would be months before I'd meet my first of such fire-types.

 At one moment the mountain roared and exploded. I still don't know what happened exactly, but suddenly the ground erupted and smoke and fire blasted out. Maybe a weak spot in the rock that couldn't handle the pressure. I hurled through the air with other rocks and came down hard a few meters away. It was nothing but luck that the other rocks didn't hit me as the came down to the ground as well.

 I stood up, trembling on my paws, and looked around. There was so much smoke in the air it was hard to see anything. I didn't see anyone and fear gripped my heart. I called out to the others, but I didn't hear anyone. What had happened to them? Had the blast hit them, or were we just too far apart for them to hear me over the sounds of the erupting volcano? I didn't know what to do or where to go. Go back? Go forward? Look for them or wait for them at the bottom of the mountain? Or stay put? Would they look for me? Or was it too dangerous to stay there? The elders had said we had to get off the mountain. So I did. I hurried down while calling out to my friends and family, but I didn't hear anyone.

 I made it down the mountain when the volcano erupted with all its might. The big eruption, the one we all knew would come, blasted magma high in the sky and I ran, I ran for dear life. Burning rock crashed into the ground left and right and I managed to evade those that would land next to me. Before today I had only used my quick attack to play, now I needed it to safe my life. I managed to jump on a higher piece of the mountain, where I sat and panted. The rocks had stopped falling from the sky, but the lava flowed in rivers down the mountain. Our home was probably destroyed in the eruption, there had been so much force behind it. I looked around, trying to get a glimpse of the others, the Charmander and Cyndaquil, the Charmeleon and Quilava. The mother Charizard and my mother. I couldn't see them.

 I stayed on that rock as he evening came. I sat there and looked and called out to the others, but I saw no-one and no-one came to me. The evening fell and the lava around me continued to give off an orange glow. It was mesmerizing to watch the lava flow, beautiful in a way, but I was worried about the others. Had they made it down the mountain? I was exhausted and I fell asleep. The next morning the lava had solidified and wasn't hot anymore. It was warm, but I wouldn't burn my paws in it. So I left and wandered around for a bit, unsure where to go.

 That is how I ended up alone. I walked around, trying to find them, and I continued forward, for they would have move forward as well. There was nothing to go back to and mother knew a place where we could start again. They were on their way to that place, but I didn't know where it was. So, I walked and tried to find some food when I was hungry and rested when I was tired. All I wanted was to find them again, so I looked for them.

 What I remember most of my travel is how sore my paws were from walking so much. But I couldn't stay somewhere, I wanted to find my family. I asked around, but no-one had seen them. There were days I didn't find food, or days I didn't find water, or days I didn't find shelter. There were days I had all of that.

I had to learn to find food, it was usually the mother Charizard who went into the forest to collect berries and fruit for us, because on the volcano there wasn't much food and with her wings she could cover large distances.

The worst of the travel was the rain. It was so cold and wet. I didn't always have shelter when it rained.

 I met many Pokémon, some were kind to me and helped me. Others weren't. I was attacked a few times by Pokémon who's territory I had invaded. I often got beat up, I was just small and weak. And there were humans who had sent their Pokémon after me to catch me, but I managed to flee every time. Can you image a small Cyndaquil like me taking on a giant Onix? Or Tyranitar? It was so scary. I ran, every time I ran away.

 It was exhausting, but I never gave up. I just wanted to find my family, to find my home again. Sometimes a Pokémon thought they saw someone of my family after I told my story, but it was always a dead end. So I just continued forward, day after day, hoping to find them.


	3. The sea

One day I reached the sea, I had never seen so much water in one place. I didn't like it, I couldn't drink it and I couldn't swim. I knew my family wouldn't be here, they would have searched for a warm place. It was then, when I looked at the body of water, that I thought I would never see them again. I lost my hope, they weren't here and I had no idea where to look for them. The world is a big place, they could have gone anywhere.

 I sank into this dark pit of despair. I was alone in a world I didn't know.

 Because I didn’t have anything better to do I walked through the city, the humans here didn't try to catch me. Maybe they thought I belonged to someone. I don't know. I thought about going back. Back to the volcano and start looking again in a new direction. But it seemed so futile.

 Still, I didn’t give up. I wandered the streets of the city and I was hungry, but I couldn’t find much food here. My paws hurt and I was so tired, I didn’t even know why I still moved.

In an ally I found some leftover to eat, but a Raticate came and attacked me. I ran and he followed me, saying something about teaching me a lesson. I didn’t look where I was going, I just wanted to get away from the Raticate. I ran to a group of people, hoping to disappear in the crowd, and I moved with them. Too late I realized they were boarding a big boat, a ferry as I later learned.

 I wanted to turn back, but the Raticate, with a few Rattata, were waiting for me at the dock. It didn’t seem they would forgive me for eating their food. I knew I couldn’t defend myself against them, so I walked with the humans and their Pokémon companions and I boarded the ferry. I didn’t even know where it would go, but I didn’t want to be on it. So I waited near the entrance and I looked to see if the Raticate would leave. When it finally did I wanted to go down, but the sound of a voice stopped me. It sounded like one of my siblings. My heart lifted in joy and ran over the deck, calling out to her. But I didn’t find her, there was another Cyndaquil there and she sounded like my sister, but she wasn’t my sister. I felt my heart get heavy again, the other Cyndaquil noticed how sad I looked and asked what was wrong. Before I could tell her, her trainer picked her up and walked away. I decided to get back on shore, there was nothing for me on the boat.

 After a few steps I felt the deck tremble and a gentle rocking motion made it difficult to walk in a straight line. That was odd, but it was my first time on a boat, so I didn’t know if that was normal or not. Then I noticed how the land alongside the ferry moved away. It was only seconds later I realized it wasn’t the land that moved away, it was the boat! The ferry had left the dock and was now in its way to whatever the destination was. I ran to the back of the boat as fast as my paws could carry me, but when I got there I only saw the sea between us and the land get bigger and bigger.

 I dropped to the ground and cried, now I was getting even further away from my family, to a place I didn’t know. I cried and I cried and I couldn’t do anything else. All that time I was alone.

 Eventually I stopped crying and I just lay on the deck, staring at the endless sea. I had no energy to do anything else but lie there and wish I could make the boat turn around somehow, but I knew that was just a fantasy. The whole endeavour seemed so hopeless now, so futile. A crippling homesickness and the fear of the unknown that lay ahead stopped me from doing anything else but feeling sorry for myself, and even wishing this would all just end. The despair got hold of me ever so strongly and I couldn’t do it anymore, I couldn’t bring myself to do anything and I wished for it to just end.

 Time passed and I really don’t know how long I had been lying there when a shadow fell over me. I looked up and saw a Houndoom look at me. It looked so scary, with jaws big enough to eat me. I squeaked in fear, got on my paws and ran, but I was exhausted and I could keep a straight line on the moving boat, so I slammed into a wall.

 “Be careful, little one,” an old man said as he walked up to me. “Where is your trainer?”

 I couldn’t answer him, humans don’t understand us. There was no way I could tell him I had no trainer and that I had to go back to the volcano.

 “You must be hungry,” he said.

 That caught my attention. I nodded to him and he smiled gently. He opened his bag and got an apple out. A big red apple and the moment I held it between my paws I took a big bite from it. It was delicious.

 “Are you here by yourself?” he asked me and I nodded. “If you need anything, just come look for old Thomas,” he said. I guess that was his name and while I was no expert in human ages, he did seem old.

 The Houndoom just sat silently next to old Thomas, he looked at me without a word. “I need to go home,” I told him. “I need to go back.”

 “Then wait until we dock and return home with the next ferry,” he said.

 That sounded like a great idea, I didn’t even know that was an option. For some reason I had thought this was a one-way journey, but it wasn’t. The thought that this boat could take me back lifted my spirit again and I thanked the Houndoom for the information.

 “Will you be okay?” the old man asked and I nodded, because now I knew what to do.

 So, I watched the old man and the Houndoom walk away and finished the apple. Then I walked around to see if there was more food on this boat. I also looked for the trainer with the Cyndaquil, but I didn’t find her again. It was a big ferry, so that’s not that strange.

 During the travel on the boat I ate, I slept and I looked out over the vast sea. I didn’t like all that water around me, but I would travel over this water for a second time to get home, that desire was greater than my fear for the undrinkable water that, if I’d fell in it, would drown me in a heartbeat.

 Finally I saw land appear at the horizon, the destination for this ferry. Later I discovered the name of that land was Rhando. Rhando island, one of the five Rorie Islands.


	4. Rhando Island

As everyone left the ferry, I stayed on it, determined to go back to the other land. But I wasn’t allowed. One of the crewmembers picked me up and carried me away. I screamed and flailed and lit my backflames, but his hands were too strong for me and I couldn’t break free. He told me that this was no place for me and that if I didn’t have a trainer, nurse Joy would help me get back to where I belonged. I tried to explain I didn’t belong here and that the ferry could take me where I did belong, but the man didn’t understand me. No human understands the words spoken by Pokémon.

 I did the only thing I could think of, I breathed in and used my Ember to scare him. That worked, he screamed as he stepped back, he rose his hands and let go of me, but I had failed to see where we were. We were too close to the rail and as I hurled through the air I tried to grab it, but I missed it and fell down. Into the water.

 I can’t describe how it feels, to be in the cold, dark and salty water. To be submerged and unable to breath, being surrounded by a cold and wet prison which I couldn’t escape from, while my lungs started burning and the need to breath grew to painful proportions. I tried to reach the surface, I desperately and frantically moved my paws to get back to the surface and when I reached it I gulped in air, but then I went under again. I panicked, I hate water and now I was going to drown. I couldn’t swim, I didn’t even know what was up or down anymore.

 Luckily a Magikarp saw my struggle and swam towards me. I felt his scales under my paws and he pushed me up. When my snout was above the surface I took in a deep breath of the fresh air. With my paws in his back the Magikarp swam out of the harbour and to the shore. There I managed to get on the land and after a final greeting the Magikarp left again. I know people don’t speak highly about Magikarp, but they aren’t useless. On land perhaps, just as useless as I am in the sea. I flail as much in the sea as they do on land, and we both won’t get any further. Just like a Lapras can attack on land, but will never be able to evade any attack.

 Anyway, I got on shore and I walked over the sand. I knew in what direction the harbour was, so I walked back. What else could I do? I had to get on a ferry so I could go back to the volcano and try to find my family again. But again my heart grew heavy and not for the first time I thought I’d never see them again. Maybe I just had to accept that, I was so tired from the endless journey and maybe I just had to give up on finding them. But if I’d accept that I wouldn’t see them again, what purpose did I have? To live a lonely life in a land I didn’t know? Always scouring for food and being cold. I hate being cold as much as I hate being wet and without shelter I’d be both. I didn’t want to live like that. The thought that I could just give up, lie down and wait for the end came up. And I admit, it was a tempting thought, I didn’t have anything but more loneliness waiting for me. But I decided that wasn’t the solution, I just needed to find a place to call home. If I could find my family, if that goal was impossible to reach, I just needed to find another place. But the world was so big and I was so small, it felt hopeless.

 So far I hadn’t found a place I could call home, no Pokémon I felt comfortable with. There had been kind Pokémon during my journey, willing to give me shelter, but it never felt like home, so I never stayed. Should I have stayed with that gentle Pidgeotto? That kind Butterfree? That funny Rattata? They had all sheltered me and fed me during my journey, but it never felt like they could replace my family.

 As I left the shore and traded in the sand for earth, I walked forward. Back to the harbour, that was the only place I knew. There I could try to board a ferry and go back, so I could look for my family again, or…, well, I didn’t know what else to do, but I knew the harbour was where I had to go first.

 As I was on my way back to the harbour, the wind picked up. I shivered, I was still wet from the sea and now this. I looked up, there think, grey clouds in the sky. Bad weather was approaching, but it didn’t seem it would rain. Still, it was getting dark and I needed to find shelter and get warm. The day was coming to an end and I didn’t want to walk through unknown territory in the dark.

 So when I found a tree with big roots sticking in the ground, I lay down on the ground, between two roots and with my back against the trunk. It sheltered me from the wind.

 I slept throughout the night and when I woke up the next morning I wanted to continue towards the harbour, but I didn’t know what way to go. I only knew roughly what direction I had to go, the Magikarp had travelled towards the sunset, so I needed to go to the sunrise now, but it was impossible to tell where the sun was. Thick, grey clouds covered the sky and a strong wind blew over the land. If this journey had thought me anything, it was recognizing the arrival of bad weather. It would rain, I knew that for sure.

 I thought about it for a moment, I could stay here, or move further. This tree had done a good job keeping me out of the wind and it might even keep me dry, but staying here wouldn’t get me to the harbour, where the boat was. I got up and stepped away from the tree, I figured I could pick a direction like I always did, or stay here and wait for the sun to come back. That seemed like the best idea, if I didn’t wait for the sun I could get lost and end up even further away from the ferry that would take me back. With no better destinations in mind, that was still my goal: to go back to the other land.

 So I stayed closed to the tree as I searched for some berries and wood. The berries I found tasted good and I soon collected a small pile of wood. Now all I needed was a bit of shelter in case it would rain and I was all set to sit the storm out.

 Of course that was when the Ariados came. I don’t know if it was hungry or if I had invaded its territory, but it attack. I didn’t stay to ask what the problem was, I ran. I was scared. That Pokémon was bigger than me, like so many Pokémon are, and it was stronger. I was just weak, my embers barely had any strength.

 The most scary part of being chased by that Pokémon was the ticking sound of those stick-like legs every time they hit rocks. I still shiver when I think of that sound, that I could hear coming closer. I didn’t look where I was going, I just ran. Suddenly I tripped and my snout hit the ground first. I rolled over and watched the Ariados run towards me, with the creepy, thin legs of it. I used my Ember and it hit its belly. It hurt enough for the Ariados to cringe and I took the opportunity to get back on my paws and run again.

 I fell into a ditch and that might have saved my life, because the Ariados hadn’t seen it and walked over me. It was terrifying to see the Ariados above me and I feared it would suddenly turn around and attack me, but it didn’t. I stayed in the ditch for a little while longer and when I climbed out, I didn’t see the Ariados anywhere.

 My paw hurt a bit, but I could still walk. I looked around, all the trees looked alike, I didn’t know how to get back to the tree I had slept under and I didn’t know how to get back to the harbour. I didn’t dare to stay either, what if the Ariados would return? So I started walking, going in another direction than the Ariados, I decided not to turn back, because if the Ariados would decide to do the same, it would eventually catch up with me again. Those legs were longer than my own, so it travelled faster.

 Again I felt my life consisted of nothing but walking and walking and walking some more. I have no idea how long I had walked, with the sun hidden by the think clouds I couldn’t possibly tell how much time had passed. It felt like I had walked forever. And that I would walk forever. Again I felt I didn’t belong anywhere, being chased away had happened several times during the journey, the Ariados was sadly no exception to that.

 Then the rain came. It wasn’t a gentle rain either, it was a downpour. I walked through the rain, alone, cold and wet. Was this really my life now? Walking, searching for food and getting cold and wet? But what else could I do? I found a tree and I curled up against the trunk, hoping it would provide some shelter against the rain and the wind slamming into the tree on the other side. I thought that maybe I should have let the Ariados have its way, then my miserable life would have come to an end.

 “Hello,” I heard a human voice say and I looked up. There was a human male there, I really couldn’t guess his age. He seemed to be young, but not a child anymore. His hair and clothing were wet, obviously he had been caught by surprise by the rain as well. The hair stuck to his forehead, but he didn’t seem bothered by it. He crouched down in front of me and I got scared. He probably saw that, because he smiled at me and said: “Hey, don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. Are you lost?”

 I nodded, because I was lost, more than he could ever imagine.

 “Where are you from?” he asked, but how could I possibly explain that? So I didn’t speak, I just looked at him.

 He seemed to realize the question wouldn’t help so he tried something else. “Are you from around here?” he asked, so I shook my head.

 “Do you have anywhere to go?”

 Again I shook my head , I didn’t have a place to go and the sadness in my heart grew when I admitted that.

 “You don’t have a place to stay?”

 And again I shook my head. I didn’t and I probably never would.

 “Would you like to come with me then?” he asked and I looked at him. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to, but you can warm up at my home. When it’s dry you can decide if you want to go any further and maybe I can even help you get there. What do you say?”

 I nodded, I got up and nodded again. A warm, dry place, I longed for that. He picked me up, he held me against his chest with his arms wrapped around me, I can’t begin to describe how good it felt to be held that way. I felt safe. He walked to the city where he lived, to the house where he lived. He brought me to his room and put me on the ground next to the radiator, as I later learned it’s called. He left the room, saying he would get a blanket and he returned with the big and soft piece of cloth. He put it around me and rubbed me dry. I was so happy.

 After he rubbed me dry he put me on the ground again and he wrapped me in a blanket. It was soft and warm. Then I sneezed, I couldn’t help it. I sneezed and as I did my backflames erupted. That always happens, but now the blanket he had put so kindly around me caught fire. I saw how startled he was and I feared he’d throw me out now, but he quickly took the blanket from my back, put out the fire with his shoe and smiled at me.

 “Maybe it’s best you lie on top of one,” he suggested and he gently picked me up, put a new blanket near the radiator and put me on it again.

 It was so cosy and warm, I couldn’t remember the last time I felt like that. No, that’s not true. The last time I felt like that was in the cave where I had lived with my family. Oh, how I had missed that feeling. I looked at the young human who had taken care of me, he told me his name was Michael and he told me a bit about his family, but I dozed off.

 When I woke up again there was some Moomoo-milk in a bowl and some berries on a plate. I ate and I drank and I went back to the blanket. I was comfortable there.

 And that’s how I ended up with Michael. I stayed there, I had found love and warmth. Michael cared for me, he didn’t just take care of me by feeding me, he cuddled me, he played with me. I felt loved and I was warm and I had food. It felt like I had found a home again. He even gave me my name, he started calling me Lytse, so that became my name.

 I still miss my family and I’m sure they miss me too, but the truth is, I don’t know where to look for them. Maybe, one day, I’ll find them again. I’d love to be able to find them and let them know I’m okay. For now, I’m happy being with Michael.

 I’m home.


End file.
